Macross Starlight
by thforres
Summary: Life was pretty normal for the people of the Macross Starlight, and for two young soldiers it was only beginning. Events transpire that will change life as everyone knows it aboard the Starlight, as they are caught between the agendas of two opposing movements, as greater galactic events threaten to shatter life as they know it...
1. Chapter 1

It's February 2059, the 26th long range colonization fleet, led by the Macross Starlight, advances inexorably towards the core of the Milky Way. The population of the Starlight is a mix of human cultures with a large percentage of Zentradi calling the main city home. The ship is of an island configuration, with the outlying islands housing a large full sized Zentradi population.

Ensign Soren MacDonald walked into the Commander's support staff office, wearing his dress whites. The Petty Officer at the desk handed him a couple of forms and had him take a seat next to the commander's office door. A few moments later the petty officer signaled him that he could knock.

He did so, and was told to enter. This was a customary meeting, when new personnel are assigned.

"Sir, Ensign Soren MacDonald reporting for duty," He said after snapping to attention and rendering a smart salute.

His new commander looked up from his paperwork, and did a onceover of the cleanly pressed uniform Soren was wearing, before standing up and returning the salute. "At ease," He said, Soren relaxed a bit, his stance widening and his hands moving to the small of his back, "Have a seat."

Soren sat down, he couldn't help but feel he needed to stay rigid. His commander spoke once more, "Relax, this is an informal meeting," Soren relaxed a bit more, his commander shook his head but continued on, "How was your leave?"

"Leave was fine sir, spent most of it with family. It was a good opportunity to decompress after selection," Soren responded. He didn't really elaborate much, and the commander didn't expect him to.

Soren and the Commander spoke for about a half an hour, before Soren was dismissed. His next stop was to meet with his new team leader.

He was fresh out of selection, and newly assigned to the Special Operations Group, He was to be assigned to Foxtrot Squadron, Team 8. He walked into the team room, where he saw his new team leader.

"Ah, you must be y new rookie," Lieutenant Sanada said as Soren walked through the door, "I'm your new team leader, Lieutenant Toujou Sanada." He motioned to the others in the room, first pointing out the attractive woman sitting in the corner, "That's Lieutenant Junior Grade Elsa Strickland," she smiled and waved, Sanada's hand moved to the other occupant, "And I think you know Lieutenant Junior Grade Stephen Kano."

Soren and Stephen had known each other for a long time, having grown up together. They had both graduated from the same selection class, and they had both served in one of the fighter squadrons, while Soren was still a Warrant Officer.

Soren greeted the other team members, and looked back to Lt. Sanada. Who had begun to speak once more.

"Welcome to Fox Squadron. In case you couldn't tell, I'm in charge of Team 8, Elsa second, and well, if you're worrying about which one of you rookies is in charge, you won't have to much longer," He said with a sly grin. "You know what we do here, right?"

Soren nodded his confirmation. Nominally Foxtrot Squadron was a Fighter Squadron, but the Special Operations Group was responsible for all special reconnaissance, counter terrorism, and unconventional warfare duties in the fleet. They had access to the best equipment the fleet had to offer. If the mission was dangerous or delicate, it belonged to SOG. Team 8 also consisted of their maintenance crew and administrative staff, though each member of Team 8 was a trained and competent operator. Soren would have to wait until tomorrow to meet his crew, as they were busy with a range qualification.

Soren and his new teammates spent most of the afternoon getting to know each other, given the day had no scheduled activities for them. Soren looked around the team room, which consisted of lockers against one wall, a small office for the team leader, and some cubicles for the officers and chiefs along one wall. One wall was full of pictures, and had a bar nestled into the corner, a dart board was hung on one of the walls, and a pool table occupied the middle of the room. Some chairs occupied another corner with a large television backed into the corner. It was essentially a Team hangout, and it wasn't surprising as the barracks were connected to the Squadron building.

Elsewhere, a similar scene was playing out for Warrant Officer Ramia Dosel. She was clad in her service dress uniform, a green and khaki uniform. She was reporting in to her first unit, and she was fresh out of schooling. Unlike Soren, she felt very nervous and uncomfortable, both because she did not care for the attire, and that she did not like being micloned. It made her feel awkward and uncoordinated, doubly so with the shoes this uniform forced her to wear. Still, she knew that military service required it so she resolved to adapt. She was being assigned to one of the Marine Battlesuit platoons, an all Zentradi unit. Zentradi made up a large portion of the UNS Marines aboard the starlight, given that battlesuits can only be operated by Full size zentradi, and that said battlesuits can be quite useful.

She was roused from her reverie when the sergeant indicated that the Company commander was ready to see her. She rapped on the door once and waited to be told to enter. When she heard the muffled word she proceeded into the office.

It was small, not room for much other than the desk, a couple of chairs, and a bookcase. It was by no means as big as her father's office, who was now her regimental commander.

Ramia walked to the Captain's desk, snapped to attention and quickly raised her hand in a salute. "Warrant Officer Ramia Dosel reports as ordered, sir," She said smartly.

The Captain stood up and returned her salute, waved her to a seat, and told her to be at ease.

Ramia took a seat in one of the chairs in front of the Captain's desk. She sat upright, but relaxed as the man began to speak. He introduced himself, and did what most commanders do, told her what he expected of her, asked her a bit about herself, and tried to get to know her as a person.

He was more personable than she'd expected, most of her impressions of commanders were from her training, and from old movies. She'd expected a hard faced man with a chiseled jaw and a scowl, barking his words at her, though she had no doubt he could be that if he'd desired.

"So, I see from your file that you recently graduated from the Starlight Military Academy, with degrees in Mechanical, Chemical, and Nuclear Engineering, and minors in Computer Science and Mathematics. You also received top marks during your physical evaluations and field problems," The captain said, as he reviewed her file.

"Yes sir, I found the curriculum most enjoyable," She responded. The Captain looked up at her, incredulously.

"I also see that you're the daughter of our Regimental Commander, I trust I don't have to worry about you going over my head," He quipped with a smile.

"Of course not, sir," Ramia replied frankly. The Captain noted that while she appeared relaxed, something was bothering her, he decided to pull off the kid gloves.

"Is something wrong, Warrant Officer? That was a joke." He paused and observed Ramia for a moment, she twiddled her thumbs a bit before answering, "Well? Spit it out Warrant Officer."

"It's just…" She trailed off, her commander looked at her impatiently, "Well sir," She began, finally finding her confidence, "I do not like being micloned, it makes me feel… uncomfortable."

The Captain sat back in his chair, this was not the young woman who showed the confidence, competence, initiative, and adaptability that her file indicated, that or she was unable to sublimate her discomfort without external pressures.

After the meeting concluded, she was dismissed to finish settling in, and that's she'd report to her platoon area tomorrow morning. With her new found free time, she decided that she'd take a trip into town…

Soren and Stephen had decided to go into town that evening, to the Kridanik mall. The mall was located in one of the Islands, island 3 to be exact. It was built much the same as most malls on Island ships were built, to accommodate miclones and full sized zentradi. There was a large population of zentradi on the starlight, a full forty percent of the population in fact. As such much of the ship's habitable space had been designed specifically to accommodate the giant stature of the zentradi. Most humans didn't seem to mind, but some did. Every now and then you'd see some racially motivated graffiti, the occasional brawl at a pub, but nothing major. Some people just couldn't let go of the past.

Soren and Stephen walked along the mezzanine looking at shops, but mostly looking at the people. Despite the fact that it was a mall, it was huge, and was almost a city unto itself. Soren never got tired of the view here, the park down below where he could see zentradi and human children playing together, giants and miclones in the same place, it truly inspired him. Stephen shook him from his musing with a jab to the ribs. He nodded in the direction of a zentradi woman walking past them. Her long blue hair was pulled back into a loose braid that draped over her right shoulder, and she had eyes that were a deep purple. Stephen couldn't help himself, letting out a low whistle.

Ramia turned to see who was whistling at her. She was taken aback by the two young men that were standing on the mezzanine. Her face turned rather stern as she approached them. She didn't like being ogled, and she wasn't going to let him forget it.

Stephen turned white as the woman approached them. Soren had turned his attention elsewhere when he saw her turn, but noticed that Stephen had been dumbstruck. Soren knew his friend all too well, no tact, and no discretion. He knew he was going to need to intervene, or Stephen might find himself in a world of hurt…


	2. Chapter 2

Ramia now stood very close to the edge of the mezzanine, her neck craned over the edge, glaring at Stephen. She looked Stephen up and down, and Stephen made an audible gulping sound. Stephen Kano was sweating buckets when Ramia spoke.

"You like catcalling women do you? Think it's cute eh?" She said, her voice had a soft, sultry sound to it, and her volume belied her size. "Well? Are you waiting for permission to speak, or haven't you found your balls yet?" Those words were not quite what Ramia had wanted to say, but her last couple of years going through the rigorous Marine training had left her with a crass and short manner.

Stephen began to stammer his response, not expecting her to be so, blunt. Words had just begun to form on the tip of his tongue when Soren stepped in front of him.

"He didn't mean anything by it, miss," Soren drawled, "He just can't keep it to himself when he sees a beautiful woman." Soren's tone was low, and soft, his smile was disarming and genuine. Ramia was taken aback, and she blushed a little. She wasn't used to being complimented like that. Soren spoke once more, "We apologize if we offended you, so we'll just be on our way…"

Soren began to lead the flabbergasted Stephen away when he heard the woman start to choke out a response.

"No, it's ok. You don't have to leave," Ramia began to say, though she wasn't really sure why. She had been furious with the man's friend for catcalling at her just moments ago, but now she was calm and apologetic. Her heart began to race as she got a good look at him when he turned around at her response. She thought that he was rather handsome, in a rugged sort of way, he wasn't pretty like the men she had seen in magazines, but he wasn't average looking either.

Soren had turned to face the giant woman after she had spoken up. He glanced at Stephen, whose face had regained some of its color, and he had stopped stammering. He'd just been nose to nose with an angry giant, and he was understandably a bit shaken by it.

Soren walked over to where Ramia stood, and introduced himself. "I think we got off on the wrong foot, I'm Soren, and my friend over there is Stephen. He's a bit of a bonehead sometimes, but he means well. I didn't catch your name miss…?" Soren bowed slightly.

Ramia blushed a bit and responded, "Mia, Mia Dosel." She returned his bow, and smiled, "Pleased to meet you…"

Soren smiled, "Pleased to meet you too Mia." Soren turned to walk away, but stopped, and turned back to Mia. "We were just about to go get something to eat, would you care to join us?" Soren blurted out. Mia nodded, and replied that she'd like that. Stephen perked up almost immediately at the mention of food, and the prospect of dining with a lovely lady. They quickly decided on the Nian Nian restaurant down the way.

Mia had to visit a micloning station, as most of the restaurants on the promenade couldn't cater to full size zentradi. In fact while most of the fleet was designed to accommodate full size zentradi, restaurants, living quarters and most of the amenities in the fleet were miclone size, given the space constraints, and micloning chambers were provided as a public service.

Soren greeted Mia as she exited the station, and the three of them walked down the promenade to the Nian Nian several hundred meters away. Soren was searching of a way to really strike up a conversation with her, when he noticed a large gathering of people.

He began to notice the throng of people were mostly zentradi. They were milling about holding signs, some were passing out flyers, and they began to chant. Soren, Stephen, and Mia stayed a fair distance from the gathering, but were still close enough to hear. A man stood up on the edge of the fountain, and began to speak loudly. He called for his zentrana and meltran kin to hold their heads up, and be proud of their heritage, that the humans were repressing them, and keeping them from doing what they were born to do. He called for them to throw off their chains and fight for their right to be who they were supposed to be. He held up the human race as the example of hypocrisy, and that for all of the human talk of peace and understanding was just lies, and meant nothing as humanity still embraced war. He said humanity was afraid of the zentradi race. His rhetoric went on like that for a good while, and Soren led Mia and Stephen away, before they got swept up in the crowd's fervor. Mia put it out of her mind, while Soren and Stephen put it to the back for the time being. They knew this might be the start of something nasty for the fleet.

The happy mood returned to the three as they settled into their table at the Nian Nian. They sat at a round table in the corner, each facing the others. Soren was the first to break the silence. He started with the easy questions, since he got the feeling that she was bit on the shy side. He found out that she had just graduated from the Starlight Academy, the top military academy in the fleet. Soren himself had gone to the Kukaku University, and while he had received his military training there, it was through the reserve commissioning program, and he had majored in physics, while Mia had just gone through 4 years of rigorous military training and received multiple engineering degrees during her tenure there. Mia disclosed that she had just been assigned as a squad leader in one of the Marine Amphibious Battalion's battlesuit platoons. Soren, a bit shy of his new posting with Special Warfare, simply stated that he was a fighter pilot. Stephen shot him a surreptitious glance, he knew that Soren was modest, and didn't want to overshadow Mia's accomplishment.

Soren was incredibly impressed, she was not only beautiful but smart as well. Slowly the conversation took a more personal turn, and they began to talk about films and books, and entertainment. They both shared a passion for mid to late 20th century film, and 20th century fiction. They both shared a passion for history, and began discussing it at length. Stephen could actually follow this conversation, as he had studied history and political science during his time in university. However, once the conversation turned to science and technology he was lost again.

They sat there at that table for hours, talking and getting to know each other. They swapped stories and jokes, until the management politely asked them to leave so they could close up.

"It was really nice to meet you both," Mia said as they left the Nian Nian, "But I have an early morning tomorrow, and I need to get back to the BOQ." Soren nodded and offered to walk her to her barracks. Mia graciously accepted, but Stephen declined, stating that he was headed back to the team quad. Soren said he'd meet him there after a bit, and they departed.

Soren and Mia continued to talk as they walked to her barracks, but Soren had a strange feeling, though he didn't show it. He felt as though he were being watched, hunted almost. He was sure they would be safe, crime was almost unheard of on the Starlight, but he couldn't shake the feeling that he was being stalked…


	3. Chapter 3

Soren kept looking around, checking reflective surfaces to see if they were being followed, as he walked with Mia. He just couldn't shake the feeling that they were being watched. Mia picked up on his tension as she held his arm, she asked what was wrong, but Soren reassured her that everything was fine, not wanting to frighten her. She was a marine infantry officer, and perfectly able to handle herself in a fight, but he had more training in surveillance techniques and he was a fully trained special operations sailor.

Mia confronted him, "No, everything's not alright. You're tense, and you keep looking around. You think we're being followed, don't you?" He was caught, he nodded slightly, the gesture speaking volumes. "You're not just a fighter pilot, are you?" Mia suspected by his evasive answer earlier that he wasn't just an ordinary fleet defense squadron pilot, but she didn't want to press it either. He shook his head, indicating that he was not. Mia smiled and gave his arm a squeeze. Even though they had only known each other for a couple of hours, she really liked him.

Soren had been keeping to well-lit streets, and public areas as he walked her home, despite the fact that there were numerous shortcuts through alleys. Violent crime was almost unheard of in the fleet, sure there were the occasional crimes of passion and bar fights, but muggings and random violence on the street was almost non-existent. Still, Soren had a feeling…

He didn't see his attacker swing at him, so much as feel the man's presence. Soren pushed Mia out of the way as he ducked the wild swing. He spun on his heel taking a low crouching stance before driving his hand into the man's diaphragm. He shot a series of rapid fire punches into the man's ribs and face, before grabbing his extended arm and wrenching him around into a shoulder lock and throwing him onto the ground. The man let out a grunt as he hit the ground. Soren looked around to see that a man was attempting to grab Mia. She was fending him off, but he was very large and unfazed by her strikes. Soren dislocated his opponent's arm and struck him in the jugular, causing the man to pass out. Soren raced over to the large man assaulting Mia. He leapt onto the man's back, wrapping his arms around the man's neck in a sleeper hold. Soren planted his knees in the small of the man's back and shifted his weight to drag the man down. Soren bladed his body to his opponent's, keeping his vulnerable points away from Mia's attacker. Soren felt the man's struggling begin to trail off as he lost consciousness…

When Soren searched the men's pocket he found some of the literature that was being handed out at the rally earlier. Apparently these men were connected to it somehow. A few moments later the police arrived, as the men began to regain consciousness. Soren and Mia identified themselves to the officer, and gave their statements. They were dismissed when the cameras corroborated their story. They were told that it seemed pretty open and shut, but to stay available for further questions.

Soren and Mia began walking once more, and they were only a short distance from the tram that would take them on post.

The ride was non-eventful, and they sat quietly as the tram sped into the main city section. It was a short ride, despite covering a significant distance. Before long they had arrived at their stop. His barracks were relatively close to hers, his compound only being down the road.

"Well, that was exciting," Soren said with a smile. It was a goofy smile, which seemed to pit Mia at ease.

"Sure was, probably my most memorable first date ever," Mia quipped. She was fibbing a bit, as she had never really been on a date before. She wasn't even sure this really qualified.

"So we're calling that a date then? I can almost promise that the second will be better," He said, smiling. By the time he had finished his sentence they had arrived at her barracks. Mia nodded, and they made plans to meet the next evening. She leaned in and kissed Soren on the cheek before they said goodnight.

It was around 2330 hours when Soren walked into the team room. He was greeted by Elsa and Stephen, both of whom were apparently into their second case of beer. He saw a stack of empty cans next to an empty case.

Elsa whistled sharply at him, and Soren turned just in time to catch the can of beer that had been thrown his way.

Elsa looked at him with a wolfish grin, "Ok newbie, spill. I want details…"

Soren looked at Stephen, who was grinning stupidly, face flushed with alcohol. Apparently he had told Elsa about Mia. Soren glared accusingly at his friend, who raised his hands and put on his best innocent face, indicating that he had said nothing. Soren popped the tab on the beer can he held in his hands and filled his teammates in on the evening's happenings.

Stephen was speechless, which was not a common occurrence, and it was Elsa that spoke, "You sure know how to show a girl a good time, don't you?"

Soren burst out laughing first, and was soon joined by his comrades…

A few days passed, during which Soren, Stephen, Elsa, and Mia spent much of their time off together. Mia was getting settled in her platoon, getting along well with her troops, especially in daily maneuvers. Soren had yet to step into the cockpit, rather their team had been working on their core warrior tasks. They would be expected to regularly put in ten hour days, with physical training in the morning, followed by range time after breakfast, then lunch, and then tactical proficiency drills in the afternoon. All of which was highly physical and exhausting.

Finally Friday rolled around, which was the classroom day and that meant their workload was light. They would be released after lunch, and Soren had plans to spend the evening with Mia. He had tickets to a concert at the park downtown.

Soren and Mia walked out of the park, smiling and laughing, and barely able to hear a thing. The crowd had been large, and the speakers were loud. The cheering was thunderous. The Fire Bomber cover band had been particularly good, though it wasn't Soren's typical taste in rock. Several bands had performed that night. They ran the gamut from norse power metal, to symphonic rock. There were even some performers who had covered Sheryl Nome in their own style. Mia had particularly enjoyed the band that had covered Sheryl Nome, as she was a fan. Soren made a mental note to get tickets for Sheryl's show next month.

Soren and Mia took the bus back to post, deciding not to have a repeat of their first date. They settled down in Mia's barracks room. It was really more of a small apartment, two separate rooms sharing a bathroom and a kitchen. They spent the rest of their evening together.


End file.
